As Long As JRPGs Like This Keep Coming West, My PS3 Stays Connected

Today Tecmo Koei announced that Gust's Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star, a prequel to the amazing Ar Tonelico series, is coming to Western PlayStation 3 consoles on September 23. Games like this are the reason my PS3 is the only console hooked up right now.

Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star is a turn-based science fiction role-playing game which tells the story of a lost civilisation roaming the edge of the galaxy, searching for a new home. Players follow the adventures of two sets of adventurers — Delta and Casty, whose goal is to protect humanity, and Ion and Earthes, who just want to get home.

As in the Ar Tonelico series, music is magic in this universe, so strong player characters protect their group's singers as they build up and unleash powerful attacks and summonings. The relationship between player characters will be explored, psyches will be investigated, visual novel style, and sexual innuendo will be laid on thick.

The announcement of the game's impending release in the West punctuates my favourite period of a PlayStation console's lifespan — the end bits, as less big budget games make the grade, paving the way for quirky goodness.

Last week I was flooded out of my old apartment. So far the only console I have hooked up is the PlayStation 3, where I'm playing Project Diva F and Atelier Rorona Plus. I wonder if I can make it to September without plugging in anything else.

Comments

So excited to play this. Ar Tonelico III wasn't very good because of a lot of issues, but they seem to know what they did wrong since this looks like they've doubled down on the systems from Ar Tonelico II, which was easily the best of the series and one of my favourite PS2 games.

I was terrified that this game wouldn't see a western release like Ciel no Surge, first because I'm a big fan of Gust in general but Second because I am a massive fan of any JRPG headed by and with music by that mad genius Akira 'TOTAL COMMAND' Tsuchiya.
I am incredibly hyped for this.

September has become an absolutely fantastic (or bad if you hate being poor) month for JRPG fans. Starting with HyperDimension Neptunia Re;Birth and Disgaea 4 (Vita) in the last week of August, we then have Ar No Surge, Fairy Fencer F and Natural Doctrine coming out. Freedom Wars should also coming out sometime around there too in theory.

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